Golf tee sharpener

ABSTRACT

A handy pocket device having an inclined socket, and a vertical way containing a thumb actuated plunger provided with a sharp edge for safely and neatly shearing off the ground end portion of a used golf tee inserted in the socket.

United States Patent 1 Nickel [451 Oct. 14, 1975 GOLF TEE SHARPENERRobert J. Nickel, 240-54 37 Ave.,

[76] Inventor:

Douglaston, NY. 1 1363 [22] Filed: May 30, 1974 21 Appl. No.: 474,716

[52] US. Cl. 30/241; 30/278; 30/280; 30/282; 83/581; 144/30 [51] Int.CI. B91D 27/00 [58] Field of Search 144/30; 30/241, 113, 92, 30/223,278, 280, 282; 83/581, 580, 694; 273/32 B, 33

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1875 Eisenmann 30/113257,925 5/1882 Faas 30/1 13 477,249 6/ 1892 Dixon 3,073,195 1/1963Koster 83/581 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 869,133 3/1953 Germany30 113 Primary ExaminerJ. M. Meister Attorney, Agent, or FirmBarnwell R.King ABSIRACT A handy pocket device having an inclined socket, and avertical way containing a thumb actuated plunger provided with a sharpedge for safely and neatly shearing off the ground end portion of a usedgolf tee inserted in the socket.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures US. Patent Oct. 14, 1975 3,911,577

GOLF TEE SHARPENER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the game of golf ashort tee is used in every round of the game. After being broken theused tees are usually picked up and discarded. The ground end ofa usedtee is generally feathered or jagged, making smooth insertion into theground difficult or in some cases even impossible. If some way couldcould be found for uniformly trimming or renewing such used tees itwould be highly desirable.

The main object of this invention is to provide a. de-

vice for easily sharpening a golf tee by simply inserting the tee in thedevice and pressing a thumb-piece to shear off the end of the tee.

Another object is to provide a golf tee sharpener that is handy, islight in weight, safe to use, resuls in uniformly sharpened tee, and isinexpensive. to manufacture.

A further object is to provide a quick and easy way of diagonallyshearing the damaged stern of a golf tee to renew the tee for subsequentuse even though the tee was previously useless.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention provides a devicehaving an inclined socket for receiving a used golf tee to be sharpened,and a vertical shear-way into which the end portion of such stemprojects. The shear-way contains a thumbactuated plunger having a sharpedge which is adapted to cut off the undesired end of the tee when theplunger is pressed down.

The body of the device is provided with laterally extending fingergrips, so that the device can be. inserted between the fingers and thumbwhile the tee is inserted in the socket and the plunger actuated bysimply pressing the latter with the thumb, thereby shearing off theunwanted end of the tee. 1

The plunger is urged to an initial position with the edge of the shearabove the opening to the socket by a spring located between thethumb-piece and the top of the body. Such spring conveniently surroundsthe plunger where it extends outside of the body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION For a full understanding of theinvention, reference should be had to the following detailed descriptionof the invention taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged view mainly in vertical crosssection ofa golf teesharpening device illustrative of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof.

FIG. 3 is an elevation view of a used golf tee before being sharpened.

FIG. 4 is a similar view of such tee after being sharpened.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the illustrated device 10 comprises a body 12having a vertical shear-way 14 of rectangular cross-section: aninclined, tapered socket 16 opening to the lower part of one side of theway 14; and a finger grip 18 extending laterally on each side of thebody.

A plunger 20 of similar cross-section to that of the way 14 is mountedto slide in such way 14 when pressed against the force of a coil-spring22 by the actuation of a thumb-piece 24 on the top of the plunger 20.

In use a used tee to be sharpened is inserted in the socket 16 with onehand and the plunger 20 is actuated by depressing the push-button 24with the thumb of the other hand. This action causes the blade 28 ofplunger 20 to neatly shear off the feathered end portion 30 of the tee26, providing a sharp new end 32 on the tee 26.

I claim:

1. A handy golf tee sharpening device for shearing off the ragged endportion of a used golf tee stem, to thereby renew the latter for furtheruse, said device consisting of a solid body having a longitudinal way ofrectangular cross-section extending from the top to the bottom thereof,a pair of finger "grips extending laterally from opposite sides of saidbody and an inclined tapered socket extending downwardly and diagonallyfrom one of said finger pieces, through the latter and terminating in anopening in the adjacent flat wall of such way;

a solid plunger of rectangular cross section mounted to slide in suchway, having a thumb-piece comprising a push-button at the top thereof,and a sharpend comprising a blade at the other end facing such socketopening; and spring located around said plunger between said push-buttonand the top of said body acting to urge the plunger toward an initialposition permitting the stem of a used golf teeto be inserted in suchtapered socket with the ragged end portion thereof projecting diagonallyinto such way below said plunger; so that when the device is grasped inone hand between the thumb and' 'fore fingers and the plunger isadvanced by depressingthe push-button against the force of said spring,the blade neatly shears off the ragged end portion of the stem,providing an effectively new tee for subsequent additional use.

1. A handy golf tee sharpening device for shearing off the ragged endportion of a used golf tee stem, to thereby renew the latter for furtheruse, said device consisting of a solid body having a longitudinal way ofrectangular crosssection extending from the top to the bottom thereof, apair of finger grips extending laterally from opposite sides of saidbody and an inclined tapered socket extending downwardly and diagonallyfrom one of said finger pieces, through the latter and terminating in anopening in the adjacent flat wall of such way; a solid plunger ofrectangular cross section mounted to slide in such way, having athumb-piece comprising a push-button at the top thereof, and a sharp-endcomprising a blade at the other end facing such socket opening; and aspring located around said plunger between said push-button and the topof said body acting to urge the plunger toward an initial positionpermitting the stem of a used golf tee to be inserted in such taperedsocket with the ragged end portion thereof projecting diagonally intosuch way below said plunger; so that when the device is grasped in onehand between the thumb and fore fingers and the plunger is advanced bydepressing the push-button against the force of said spring, the bladeneatly shears off the ragged end portion of the stem, providing aneffectively new tee for subsequent additional use.